Reader
by nevadanewsie
Summary: Sometimes a matter of seconds can change everything.
1. Chapter 1

**Dusk was falling over Brooklyn and in the distance Spot could see storm clouds rolling in. **_**Perfect. A storm to reflect my mood.**_** He thought to himself.**__**He was thinking over the days events and was amazed at how everything changed in a matter of minutes. Spot could feel the sick and angry feeling returning to the pit of his stomach with these thoughts. Angry, he brought his fist down on the table, turned on his heel and left the room. He hadn't checked on her since they brought her back to the warehouse and summoned a doctor. **_**I shoulda protected her. I shoulda been watching her.**_** He thought. He worked up the courage and walked into the room he shared with her. He could see her laying on her bed, she looked dead. He couldn't think that way, he knew she wasn't dead. Yet. One of the nurses working on her saw Spot and approached him.**

"**Youse okay?" She asked.**

"**How's she doing?" Spot asked ignoring her question.**

**The nurse looked back to her then back at Spot, "She's hanging on….but who knows…." her voice said dropping off.**

**Just a few hours before that Spot had been laughing with her in the street, she went by Reader. A name the might Spot himself had bestowed upon her. Why Reader? Spot said she always had an uncanny ability to read his moods and thoughts. Reader was his closest friend. They met when they were six, the night their apartment complex burned down and they lost everything. Reader, then she was Abigail, was standing on the corner crying, watching her whole life up in flames. Spot, then he was Connor, ran over to her telling her he'd take care of her forever. Between tears Abigail agreed and together they began their lives as newsies.**

**The warehouse was stifling for Spot, he could only pace so much anxiously waiting news on Reader, his Reader. Spot slipped out onto the roof just as the rain was starting. He lifted his face up to the sky letting the rain wash off the dirt and ugliness of the day. He leaned over the top of the warehouse, looking down onto the streets going over the events of the afternoon. How he could have done it differently. Spot and Reader had finished selling early that day and had decided to skip selling the evening edition in order to swim in the river. It had been a particularly hot summer day and both of them wanted to get the sweat off of them. Spot was a few feet ahead of Reader who was tying her shoe. **

"**Wait will ya Spot?" Reader called.**

"**Aw come on Readah will youse just leave it? Wese almost down to da rivah!" Spot replied.**

**Reader replied with a grunt. He always seemed to be in a hurry for everything. By the time she was done tying her shoe Spot was across the street from her. Without looking Reader ran into the street, she heard shouting and realized she was about to run right into a cart. Reacting to that Reader stepped back, narrowly missing the cart. Her quick reaction caused her to trip on her feet and land on her back. That trip proved fateful because just then another cart came, the driver not seeing Reader on the ground. The wheel rolled over Reader, right over her pelvis and mid section. Reader had no idea what hit her, but Spot, Spot saw everything. Spot ran into the street, almost getting hit himself. He crawled over to Reader who was still underneath the cart. Her green eyes were closed and black hair matted over her face. Slowly he brought his face to her mouth, hoping to feel the warmth of her breath. He let out a sigh of relief as he felt her breathing.**

"**I need help! Someone please!" Spot started yelling. He was silently cursing the crowd of people that were watching but offering now help.**

"**Ise got a cart heah!" A shop owner yelled, pulling a small cart behind him, "Let's place her on it and take her back to where yosue live?"**

**Spot nodded. He stood up and him and the shop owner gingerly laid her on the cart. Spot followed the cart silently praying, holding Readers hand in his. **_**Don't die on me now Readah.**_** He thought. They arrived at the warehouse that the Brooklyn newsies called home. Spot was lucky one of his birdies had seen everything because he got a doctor who was known to help the newsboys of Brooklyn from time to time. Once they got Reader on the bed the waiting game began for the rest of Brooklyn. Especially for Spot.**

**The events of the day were a loop in his head, each time he kept trying to change the outcome, but each time his head went back to the image of her lying on the ground helpless. He sat down on the roof thanking God for the rain. The one good thing from this horrible day.**


	2. Chapter 2

Spot could feel his shirt getting soaked through because of the rain. He put his head back and ran a finger through his wet hair. He was making himself sick thinking about all the things he could have done to save her. He sat down on the roof, against one of the walls near the edge, knees pulled up and head in between them and arms wrapped protectively around him. He tried to pull the images out of his brain of her lying there unconscious, instead he brought his thoughts to happier times. When they both had the world at their feet. His thoughts wandered to the summer before that, the summerof the infamous newsboys strike. He even managed a smile as he thought back to the day Jack showed up on his docks with the other two….

* * *

"That ain't good enough Jacky-boy….you gotta show me" Spot said staring at the trio long and hard. The four men bid each other farewell and Spot watched them retreat back to Manhattan. As they were leaving he saw Reader approaching, stopping to say hello to the three. Refusing to spit shake with Jack, like she always did. Spot chuckled to himself, always so concerned about getting her hands dirty. Her obsession with clean hands always confused him, especially because the newspaper ink would stain her hands daily.

"Heya Spot!" Reader said on her approach, wiping sweat from her brow.

"Youse make good money taday?" Spot queried.

"Like always, with my smile I pull in lots, you'se know that. Sometimes dey pay me a little extra to show off me legs," She said as she began pulling up her skirt and waving her foot in his direction.

Spots face turned red at the thought of that, "Readah! Youse wouldn't! You aint no hookah!"

Reader threw her head back laughing, "Spot youse must be pretty dense to think I'd actually do that."

"Jesus Readah dat ain't funny." Spot said seriously.

Reader continued laughing, "Seeing you react was definitely worth it." Spot just glared at her. "So uh was Cowboy here about da strike?"

Spot nodded, "Ya dey think dey can take down Pulitzah but Ise know better. Dose Manhattan boys are a bunch of sissies, dey ain't gonna accomplish shit."

Always one to challenge Spot, Reader circled him smiling, "So sure of dat Conlon?" She said poking a finger into his back, "Dey seemed pretty determined when I was dere earlier today."

"What were youse doin dere Readah?" Spot asked turning around to face her.

"Don't worry about it." Reader said with a smirk. She loved alluding to the goings on of her life, rather than outright saying it. It frustrated him endlessly therefore it was her favorite thing to do.

"Seriously youse ain't bein funny."

"I ain't tryin tah be, youse don't gotta know everything I do all day. ANYWAYS," she began, shifting the subject back to the strike, "I really think you should give those boys a chance, dey aint all hugs and smiles over dere."

Spot shrugged, "Youse are probably right. I'll keep some boidies in da area, watch em, see just how serious dey are."

"Good Connor," She said patting him on the face heading back into the warehouse.

* * *

Spot felt the warmth of the memory leave him as he heard footsteps coming towards him. He looked up and saw the nurse from earlier standing there, wringing her hands. Spot's stomach turned into a rock.

"Is she…..?" Spot couldn't even finish the sentence without feeling like vomiting.

"No, she's still…hanging on. I just wanted tah check on ya, make sure you hadn't jumped or anything." She said trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work.

"Well thank you." Spot said turning his back to her, hoping she would get the hint she was dismissed and that he wanted to be alone for the moment. He heard her retreat and breathed a sigh of relief. He brought himself back to his memories of her, the only thing, he felt, that was keeping him sane in the midst of all this craziness.

His thoughts drifted to the day he and the rest of Brooklyn was preparing to show their support of Manhattan.

* * *

He walked into the room he shared with Reader and saw her with her slingshot tucked into her back pocket.

"Where do youse think youse are goin taday missy?" Spot asked. Reader jumped at his words.

"Uh Ise goin with youse guys." Reader said sticking her chin out defiantly.

"No youse aint and youse are crazier den I thought if you actually expected me tah let youse go taday." Spot said reaching over to confiscate her slingshot.

"Fine." Reader said coking her eyebrow at him, "Have fun rescuing Manhattan big shot." Reader watched him retreat.

Spot returned that night past midnight due to the triumph at the distributing center. Celebrating went way into the night in Manhattan and he was exhausted. Spot stumbled into his room, just the light of a candle to light his way around. He wandered over towards Reader's side of the room, looking for something to sleep in. While there he glanced at her and noticed a bruise on her eye and cheek bone. Spot set the candle down and shook Reader awake.

"Did youse think I wouldn't notice da nice shinah youse got yourself." Spot said once Reader was conscious.

Reader yawned, "Can wese talk about dis tomorrow."

"No Readah we can't."

"Fine. I left with the second group. I told dem dat youse asked me to come with dem, dats it."

"And dey just let youse?"

"Yes Spot. Dey know better than to question dey're leadah."

"How could youse be so stupid? Youse coulda gotten yourself hurt real bad."

"Well I didn't, okay?"

"Okay. Just promise me something Readah"

"What Spot." Reader said sleepily.

"Don't do anything stupid like dat again."

"Alright. Now can I go back to sleep?"

"Yes." Spot replied. He blew out his candle and shook his head. 'That woman is gonna be da death of me' he thought.

* * *

Spot's thoughts were interrupted again. Not by a person, but an urge to pray. Pray to a God he thought long abandoned him. He honestly didn't know how he could survive without Reader. She was his family.

**A/N Please read and review! I'm super excited about this story! Thanks a bunch guys!**

**-Nevada**


	3. Chapter 3

Spot finished praying, he felt the effort futile. Though, he also thought it couldn't help especially if there was a god up there watching and listening to everyone. Spot wished he could hide up on the rainy roof all night. He thought about it, but knew that would send a bad message. Spot stood up, cracking his back and heading back inside. He crept down the fire escape, and opened the window to the room that he and Reader shared. He paused as he realized that the doctor and nurses were missing and Reader was lying on the bed. Quietly he crept towards where Reader lay, she looked so pale but saw the rhythmic rising and falling of her chest and breathed a sigh of relief. He sat down on the floor next to her bed, relieved she was still breathing. While he was sitting he surveyed the damage around him, bloody rags, her clothes which had been torn to shreds to get at whatever had been broken, a water basin that had been turn a reddish color from her blood. It looked like a battle had raged in here and it made his stomach sick. He got onto his knees to face Reader. He wanted to study his little fighter more closely, he pulled back the thin white sheet that covered her and saw bruises over most of her lower abdomen and stitches in various places. It pained him physically to see this, so he replaced the sheet and turned to her face. Her face which was almost unharmed in the incident. He studied her, she looked so peaceful, but he knew the pain she was in. Gently, for fear he may break her, he placed a kiss on her brow and whispered, "Youse keep fightin." With that Spot stood up and left the room.

For the first time that evening Spot faced his boys, well some of them. Not many knew Reader very well. She kept to herself, unless there were orphans to tend to. To the boys that had been orphaned Reader was the Wendy to their lost boys. A lot of newsboys were runaways and some were orphans, the ones that were orphaned Reader spent the most time with. She understood what it was to lose everything, she was there for every single one of them, and on that night they were there for her. They sat in vigil outside her door, waiting for news. When they saw Spot they looked at him expectantly but he just shrugged, he didn't have any information for them. Hesitantly Ash, Spot's second, approached him.

"Ya Ash?" Spot asked expectantly. He knew that Ash would have some information regarding what had happened with the Doctor and nurses.

"Doctah said he did everything he could tonight." Ash said plainly, which didn't help Spot any.

"All he could meaning…..?" Spot prodded.

"O ya, he said he didn't believe dere was any internal bleeding, which in his words was a complete miracle. He think dat maybe Readah hit her head real hard, if dat's da case he said sometimes people wake up a few days latah all fine and dandy and…sometimes dey don't wake up at all." Ash said, it hurt his heart to say those words.

Spot's shoulders sagged and for the first time he felt tears brimming at his eyes, though he blinked them away before anyone could catch him. He still had to be strong. Spot composed himself and looked Ash in the eyes, "Den we wait til she's bettah."

"Ya, dat's all we can do. Da doctah is gonna check on her tomorrow."

"Thank's Ash." Spot said placing a hand on his shoulder, "Alright boys, I know Readah would be so touched to see youse guys outside her door," Spot began, "But youse guys also need your rest. PLEASE go to sleep. I promise if anything changes I will let you know." Spot said as authoritatively as he could manage at the moment. He couldn't let his boys see him fall apart, even though he was just a second from losing it. Once all his boys have left Spot said goodnight to Ash and went into the room he shared with Reader.

Once inside he was pleased to see that Reader was still breathing, as long as that was happening he still had hope. Slowly Spot pealed out of his wet clothes and into some dry ones and lay on his bed. Spot closed his eyes and focused in on the sound of the rain hitting the window, his thoughts slowly drifted off to another rainy night a few months ago.

* * *

Spot had been sound asleep, dreaming about some girl he had seen earlier that day, when a thunderclap awoke him. Sleepily Spot rubbed his eyes and stretched, mid stretch he noticed Reader was strangely absent. Normally seeing her bed absent wouldn't have caused him any worry at all, but she had been acting strange in the last few weeks so he felt like investigating. He opened the bedroom door just in time to hear the front door of the warehouse open and shut, startled he ran to the window to see Reader just as she was throwing a hat over her long black hair. Spot followed suit, running through the sleeping quarters, down the stairs as fast as he could.

Once Spot got down to the street he snuck after her, not wanting to be seen just yet. It was pouring rain so he figured whatever the reason it had better be damned important. He crept along the streets until he followed her into an abandoned warehouse. He had no idea what she was doing, but it upset him greatly, nothing good ever happened in abandoned warehouses. He peered through the grime of the window and saw a man standing in the middle with a candle at his feet. He watched as Reader approached him slowly, hesitantly almost. He watched the strange man walk towards her, bring her close to him and kiss her. His blood was boiling, blindly he charged in there and tackled the man that held her. All three of them went flying.

"SPOT!" Reader shouted furiously. She ran to pull him off the man he was pummeling. Spot stepped away from him, and began pacing-the only way he knew how to keep calm. Spot looked at saw Reader was hovering over the man, "Mush," he heard her whisper, "are you okay?" Spot cocked his head at that sentence, it was then that he saw Mush's cutoff shorts and curly hair.

"MUSH? MUSH? Youse should KNOW better than to come for something of Brooklyn's!" Spot shouted. Mush sat there quiet, knowing that he was in deep with Brooklyn, hell he knew he was going to be in deep with Jack. Spot wasn't someone anyone would want to cross.

"Shit, Spot I wasn't thinking." Was all Mush could say before running out of the warehouse.

"Ise better not see youse around for awhile!" Spot called after him.

Reader just stood glaring at Spot, she was the only person he knew that dared cross him.

"Ise belong to Brooklyn Spot? Is that what I am? Property?" Reader spat out at him.

"Ya Readah youse are. Youse are my responsibility; therefore, you are Brooklyn's, because I am Brooklyn."

Reader stood there disgusted, "SPOT with that attitude how am I supposed to have a relationship with anyone? Youse have been chasin off every boy that has come near me since we met. Why? Am Ise not allowed to be happy? Youse have a constant stream of women but one person takes an interest and youse tackle him!"

Spot ignored her question and closed the gap between them. He stopped when his feet were touching the tips of hers. Reader stepped back clearly uncomfortable with the space, but he closed it again. This time wrapping his arm around her waist to bring her closer to him. He could feel her breath on his face as she looked at him confused. He brought his hand up to her chin and started closing the gap between them with his mouth. He stopped when their mouths were almost an inch a part. He could almost feel his mouth on hers when she started laughing.

"What?" Spot asked frustrated.

"Youse expect me to believe da reason you act that way is because youse have feelings for me." Reader brought her hands up to his chest, "Youse must think I'm real stupid Conlon." Reader broke their embrace and left the warehouse without another word.

Spot stood their simply dumbfounded. _If she only knew_. He thought.

* * *

A thunderclap, much like the one months before brought him back to the present. Spot turned his head towards Readers bed and saw, thankfully that she was still breathing. With a sigh he closed his eyes, hoping that he would get some sleep after this long, horrible day.

* * *

**A/N Thank you all so much for the reviews! Please keep them coming and don't hesitate to suggest anything!**

**Bless your hearts**

**Nevada!**


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